Improvement in electric hotel-annunciators



L. FINGER.

Electric HuteI-Annunciators. No.154,029. PatentedAug.11,1a7l4.V

Fay

TCE GRAPHIC 0. PHOTO-LITHSSJHPARK PLACE,N.Y.

UNITED STATES fiPATENT f'GFFI'CE- N LOUIS FINGER, OF BOSTON, 4MASSACHU'SEITS.

IMPROVEMENT |NELEcTRicl-lo'reL-ANhlulslciA1'oRe.y

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 154,029, dated August 1v1, 1874 application tiled December 31, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS FINGER, ,of Bosl ton, Suffolk county, Massachusetts, havein-` vented certain Improvements in Electro-Magnetic Annunciators, of which the following is a specification My invention relates to 4electro -magnetic Y annunciators of the kind shown and described in Letters Patent granted to me on the 27th of January, 187 4, and may be considered as an improvement on thesad patented invention.

My present invention relates especially to the arrangement of the character shield or plate, and its combination with the `shaft by which, after Abeing operated through by the electro-magnet, it may be brought back to its normal position; also, to the structure and arrangement of the escape and pallet movement through which the shield is operated by the movement of the armature.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure 1, a front view, .in

Fig. 2 an end view, and in Fig. 3 a horizontal section, of an apparatus embodying my improvements. Fig. etis a plan, and Fig. 5 an elevation, of the armature and its mechanism, while Fig. 6 is a section of the character card or shield.

In these drawings, A represents a: portion of the front of the case of an annunciator, to the rear of which a horizontal shelf, B, is secured,'an aperture or window, O, being created in the front A, through which some one of the characters, to be` hereinafter vreferred to, may be seen as it is exposed by the l action of the electric current governed by the caller. 1n rea-r of the front A, andupon the `shelf B, I erect a suitable frame, D, composed of two upright standards, EVEQand `within the upper part of this `frame I mount a horizontal shaft, F, provided atone end with a crank, G, for readily returning the characters to their normal position, aspiral spring, H, being coiled about the shaft, and. Y attached to itand the frame in lsuch manner i as to impel the shaft in one direction, for pur-4 poses hereinafter explained. I represents a 4 curvedor semi-cylindricalshield or card, composed of a thin, flat band, formed into the segment of. a circle, of which the shaft F is the axis, this shield being mounted upon the shaftby suitable arms J J and a hub, J', in

K, projects rearwardfrom .the shaft F, and serves to about counterbalance the weight of `the shield I, in order that very little power is necessary to attract the armature and release the pin from the escape-wheel. To the rear side of the shield I I affix a rib, L, and tol one side ofA this rib I affix two series, aal, of horizontal pins,- b b,1&c., which extend laterally from the rib, the two rows o f pins being placed a short distanceapart, and the pin of each row being equidistant from one another, while the disposition of the entire number is such that each pin of one series is equidistant between the two opposite pins` ofthe other series, as

shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the rib and pins thus arranged constituting practically an escapegwheeh whichl is" governed by a pallet `making part of the armature `offthe magnet. This armatureis composed of an upright bar, b, pivoted at bottomto a horizontal fulcrum, o, extending, ytoward the` shield from alateral shelf, orl extension, d, of thestandard- E', a

horizontal bar or plate, e, being attached to or making partfof, the 4bar b, and being disposed opposite the ends of anv electro -ma et, f, which is disposed in rear of the shield I and ,supported` by the frame i D. The. `upper extremity of the armature-bar b terminates in a lateraly horizontal spur or pallet, g,which intercepts. some one .ofthepins b ofthe escape-wheel, the fulcrum of the armature being preferably yso `dis'posedfwith respect to the twoV serieseof pins that the pallet shall naturally standA between` them, the extent of vmovement of the armature in one direction Ibeing estopped by the `magnet which attracts "it, and in the other direction by a suitable j, 'from which the call is to be made, a suitable blank wire connecting the room-wire with the battery-wire, by which the electric current with the battery is closed or opened at the will of the caller, While a knob or button is attached to the end of the wire within the room, by which connection with the battery is established.

When a call is made the shield I drops to a greater or less extent, and to return it to its legitimate position I attach to the shaft F a pin, k, which operates in connection with a second pin, l, aiixed to one of the arms of the shield, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the spring H, hereinbefore named, serving to return the shaft and its crank to their original positions and out ofy the way of the pin l, in order that the shield may be free to drop.

A series of instruments or devices, vas above explained, is to be placed within the case of the annunciator, corresponding in number with the number of apartments with which communication is to be established, and all the shields or indicators of one row (as there may be several rows) are to be actuated by one shaft and crank, in order that any given shield, after falling and indicating the want of the caller, may be set back by such crank.

When the shield or character card I stands at itsy highest position, the lowermost pin of the series rests upon the top of the pallet g,

and the lowermost character upon the face of the shield isv above the window C and not visible through it.

Within each apartment, and immediately adjacent to the wire knob, I place a card giving the proper directions for effecting the 1 callthat is to say, directing the caller lto press thel knob once when he desires waiter, two when he desires cigars, three for coach, Snc.; and the characters upon the shield are to be arranged in the order, beginning at the bottom, with theinstructions within each apart-4 ment,`

If two or more rows of instruments are e1n' ployed, the cranks of each series are to be mounted upon one shaft, or connected-in a suitable manner, so that the register or disf play card of any instrument may be set back y by one crank.

' The operation of my apparatus, as above tery and closes electrical circuit with the ma'gnet, which attracts the armature and removes the pallet g from below the pin b, which rests upon it, and moves such palletinward below the next succeeding pin in the opposite series, where it remains until the pressure upon the knob is removed, when the pallet returns to its original position by the opening of the circuit, and allows the shield to drop a distance suiiicient to bring the word waiter in front of the window C, and thus indicates to the attendant in the ofiice the wa-nt of the caller, each window, of course, being numbered to correspond with the number of the room connected with it. a

If cigars, or article No. 2, 'whatever it may be, is wanted, the caller presses the .knob twice, which e'ects a second pulsation of the armature, and repeats the closing-and opening of the electrical circuit, and brings the second character in View through the window, and so on throughout the series of characters.

One battery, which may be maintained at triiiing expense, will suiiice to operate a large number of instruments, as the only labor the magnet has to perform is to release the pallet from one of the pins of the escape-wheel. As the shield is Very light and is Vnearly counterbalanced, the power required to release the pallet is very slight.

My present device may be operated by the ball descending from one to the other of a series of inclined tilting steps, as shown in my Letters Patent hereinbefore referred to.

A modification of this mode of signaling would be to employ a number of stops and branch wires equal to the number of articlesl designated on the register, and a registercard so placed or combined with the stops that each of the latter shall have a name to which it belongsthat is, one stop to water,

-another to matches, &c., so that a person desiring a given article shall press the knob corresponding to such article. AIn this way but one pressure ofthe knob would be necessary to call for any given article on the register.

In lieu of a shield composed of a cylinder or portion of a cylinderturning upon a horizontal axis, as herein shown, the register may be affixed to a flat rotary disk having the articles arranged in radial lines about it.

The sheet of paper upon which the register or list of articles is pivoted or inscribed is secured to the shield at each end by turning down upon it the extremity of the shield, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings at a2, which constitutes a cheap and perfectly secure attachment.

I claim- 1. The combination of the rota-ting character shield or plate, or a series of such shields, with a single shaft, which at once constitutes the axis of said shield or series of shields, and the means whereby the said shield or shields, after having been actuated by the electro-magnetic apparatus, may be returned 3. The combination of shtft F, register to its or their normal position, as shown and. pins k and l, or "their mechanic-.t1 equivalent, set forth. and spring H, arranged for joint operation, as

2. The rotating shield -or character plate, shown and set forth. and escape-pins projecting laterally from said plate, in combination with the magnet, armature, and pallet cairriedby said armature, con- Witnesses: structedand. arranged for joint operation,l as F. CURTIS, shown and set forth. W. E. BOARDMAN.

LOUIS FINGER. 

